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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.
Click here to report a problem with this page.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "from the desk of" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "fund beneficiary" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
- This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- shimudimu@hotmail.com (email address has been used in a known fraud before)
Fraud email example:
From: "Dr. Mrs. Victoria Taylor" <info@no-log.org>
Reply-To: shimudimu@hotmail.com
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2017 02:18:40 +0100
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!!
FROM THE DESK OF: Dr. Mrs. Victoria Taylor
DIRECTOR: Foreign Debt Approval Department.
UN Foreign Debt Payment Management Unit.
Attn: Fund Beneficiary
RE :THE SUM ($25M) HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR ATM MASTER CARD PAYMENT MODE
This is to inform you that Part payment of your long overdue awaited
payment has been approved and will be loaded in a MASTERCARD ATM CARD for
security reasons.
You are hereby required to send the following details listed below to
enable my office process and send your ATM CARD to you as soon as possible
as we can .
Send the following to my office via Email : shimudimu@hotmail.com
1) Your Full Names
2) Your Age and Present Occupation
3) Your Telephone / Mobile Number
4) Your full Contact Details and Addresses
As soon as we receive the above details your ATM MASTERCARD will be
processed, loaded and sent to you without delays.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Thanks, yours sincerely
Dr. Mrs. Victoria Taylor
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Anti-fraud resources:
